Managing an e-mail response

ABSTRACT

A method for managing an e-mail response based on the e-mail domains of the recipients is provided. The method receives a first e-mail sent to a plurality of e-mail addresses that includes e-mails with different domain names, provides a list of different domain names associated with a plurality of e-mail addresses and an e-mail address of a sender of the first e-mail, generates, based on a selection of one or more of the different domain names, a distribution list including one or more e-mail addresses limited to e-mail addresses having a selected domain name, and providing the distribution list in an addressee field associated with the e-mail response.

BACKGROUND

The present invention generally relates to managing an e-mail response,and more particularly to managing an e-mail response based on the e-maildomains of recipients.

In general, an e-mail address may include a local part and a domainpart, which are separated by an “@” symbol. For example, in thefollowing e-mail address, “Consultant1_LastName1@company.com,”“Consultant1_LastName1” is the local part and “company.com” is thedomain part (also known as the domain name). An e-mail message sent toan e-mail address may be directed to a location, e.g., a mailbox, on ane-mail server associated with the e-mail address. A user associated withthe e-mail address may access the e-mail message by, e.g., retrievingthe message from the e-mail server with an e-mail application that maybe on the user's device, e.g., the user's computer.

An e-mail message may be sent to multiple recipients or addressees. Arecipient may respond to the e-mail message in a variety of waysincluding by replying to the sender of the e-mail, replying to allrecipients and the sender, replying to less than all recipients and thesender, replying to all recipients and the sender and including otherrecipients, and forwarding to other recipients. Certain ways ofresponding to an e-mail message are automated in the sense that theaddressee fields in a graphical user interface (GUI) may beauto-populated based on the type of response. For example, a “Reply tosender” command may auto-populate an addressee field with the sender'se-mail address, and a “Reply to all” command may auto-populate anaddressee field with the sender's e-mail address and the e-mailaddresses of all the recipients of the initial e-mail message. Otherways of responding to the e-mail message may require manual insertionand/or deletion of e-mail addresses.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a method for managing an e-mail response isprovided. The method may include receiving a first e-mail from a sendersent to a plurality of e-mail addresses that includes two or more e-mailaddresses having different domain names, initiating a graphical userinterface (GUI) associated with the e-mail response, providing a list ofthe different domain names associated with the plurality of e-mailaddresses and an e-mail address associated with the sender, generating,based on a selection of one or more of the different domain names, adistribution list comprising one or more e-mail addresses limited toe-mail addresses having a selected domain, and providing thedistribution list in an addressee field associated with the e-mailresponse in the GUI.

According to another embodiment, a computer program product for managingan e-mail response is provided. The computer program product may includeat least one computer readable non-transitory storage medium havingcomputer readable program instructions for execution by a processor. Thecomputer readable program instructions include instructions forreceiving a first e-mail sent to a plurality of e-mail addresses thatincludes two or more e-mail addresses having different domain names,initiating a GUI associated with the e-mail response, providing a listof the different domain names associated with the plurality of e-mailaddresses and an e-mail address associated with a sender of the firste-mail, generating, based on a selection of one or more of the differentdomain names, a distribution list comprising one or more e-mailaddresses limited to e-mail addresses having a selected domain, andproviding the distribution list in an addressee field associated withthe e-mail response in the GUI.

According to another embodiment, a computer system for managing ane-mail is provided. The system may include at least one processor, atleast one computer readable memory, at least one computer readabletangible, non-transitory storage medium, and program instructions storedon the at least one computer readable tangible, non-transitory storagemedium for execution by the at least one processor via the at least onecomputer readable memory. The program instructions include instructionsfor receiving a first e-mail sent to a plurality of e-mail addressesthat includes two or more e-mail addresses having different domainnames, initiating a GUI associated with the e-mail response, providing alist of the different domain names associated with the plurality ofe-mail addresses and an e-mail address associated with a sender of thefirst e-mail, generating, based on a selection of one or more of thedifferent domain names, a distribution list comprising one or moree-mail addresses limited to e-mail addresses having a selected domain,and providing the distribution list in an addressee field associatedwith the e-mail response in the GUI.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description, given by way of example and notintended to limit the invention solely thereto, will best be appreciatedin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary graphical user interface associated witha received e-mail, according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate an exemplary graphical user interface associatedwith an e-mail response message, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for managing an e-mailresponse, according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate another exemplary graphical user interfaceassociated with a received e-mail, according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a computing node, according to anaspect of the invention.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale. The drawings are merelyschematic representations, not intended to portray specific parametersof the invention. The drawings are intended to depict only typicalembodiments of the invention. In the drawings, like numbering representslike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present invention will now be discussed withreference to FIGS. 1-5, like numerals being used for like andcorresponding parts of the various drawings.

According to one embodiment, provided is a method for managing an e-mailresponse that is responsive to a first e-mail message sent to aplurality of e-mail addresses including two or more e-mail addresseshaving different domain names by initiating a graphical user interface(GUI) associated with the e-mail response, providing a list of differentdomain names associated with the plurality of e-mail addresses,generating, based on a selection of one or more of the different domainnames, a distribution list comprising one or more e-mail addresseshaving a selected domain name, and providing the distribution list in anaddressee field associated with the e-mail response in the GUI. Themethod, computer program products, and systems disclosed herein mayallow a user to quickly and efficiently create a distribution list thatmay be a subset of the e-mail recipients and the sender based on thedomain names of the e-mail addresses of a received e-mail message.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary GUI associated with a received e-mailmessage (reception GUI 100), according to an embodiment. Reception GUI100 may include details about the received e-mail message, such assender information, e.g., provided in a sender information area 101,recipient information, e.g., provided in a primary recipient area 102,and a secondary recipient area 103, reception date, e.g., provided in adate area 104, a subject heading, e.g., provided in a subject area 105,and body text, e.g., provided in a body text area 106. In thisillustration, the primary recipient area 102 includes two e-mailaddresses with the same domain name (company.com), the secondaryrecipient area 103 (depicted as a carbon copy or “Cc” area) includesmultiple e-mail addresses with three different domain names, e.g., for acompany, a client, and a partner company (company.com, client.com,partner.com).

The received e-mail message may be sent to a user's e-mail box, whichthe user may access and/or view with an application (e.g., an e-mailapplication) on the user's device, which may include a computerworkstation, mobile device, etc. Reception GUI 100 may be part of thee-mail application used to access and/or view the received e-mailmessage. According to an embodiment, the user may use the e-mailapplication to respond to the received e-mail message, for example, byreplying directly to the sender, replying to all (including the senderand all recipients, e.g., listed in the primary recipient area 102 andsecondary recipient area 103), or replying to a subset of the sender andrecipients. The user may also add additional recipients or the user mayforward the received e-mail message to any combination of recipients(including the sender, recipients, and/or additional recipients). Uponthe user's command to respond to the received e-mail, either by replyingor forwarding the received e-mail, a GUI may be initiated that willserve as an interface to compose and direct (i.e., address) an e-mailresponse.

FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary GUI associated with an e-mail response(response GUI 200), according to an embodiment. Response GUI 200 may beinitiated in response to a received e-mail message. In one embodiment,response GUI 200 may allow a user, e.g., a recipient of the e-mail, suchas “Consultant1@company.com” depicted in FIG. 1, to prepare and addressan e-mail that is responsive to the received e-mail (for example, as areply to the sender, as a reply to all recipients and the sender, as areply to a subset of all recipients and the sender, as a combination ofany of the preceding reply formats along with additional recipients, oras a forward to other recipients).

Response GUI 200 may include a primary addressee field 201, a secondaryaddressee field 202 (e.g., Cc field), a tertiary addressee field 203(e.g., a blind carbon copy or “Bcc” field), a subject field 205, and abody text field 206. Response GUI 200 may also include one or moredropdown menus listing each of the different domain names among all ofthe e-mail recipients and sender of the received e-mail message. Adropdown menu may be provided for each of the addressee fields inresponse GUI 200. Primary dropdown menu 211 may be associated withprimary addressee field 201. Secondary dropdown menu 212 may beassociated with secondary addressee field 202. Tertiary dropdown menu213 may be associated with tertiary addressee field 203. The dropdownmenus may list the different domain names upon an activation stimulus,such as positioning a cursor over an icon associated with the dropdownmenu, e.g., “rolling over” the icon for the dropdown menu, or byclicking on the icon associated with the dropdown menu.

FIG. 2B illustrates response GUI 200 with primary dropdown menu 211activated. In this illustration, activated primary dropdown menu 211′lists the different domain names among the recipients and sender of thereceived e-mail, e.g., a first domain name 221 (client.com), a seconddomain name 222 (company.com), and a third domain name 223(partner.com). The second domain name 222 may be selected. In responseto the selection, the primary addressee field 201 may be populated withall of the e-mail addresses among the recipients and sender having adomain name corresponding to the second domain name 222 (e.g.,company.com). The user may then send the e-mail response, e.g., to thee-mail addresses having the second domain name 222.

Alternatively, the user may select further domain names from the primarydropdown menu 211, and in response to such further selection(s), theprimary addressee field 201 is populated with e-mail addresses among therecipients and sender having a domain name corresponding to the furtherselected domain name(s). It will be appreciated that the user may alsomanually enter other e-mail addresses into the primary addressee field201 (or any of the other addressee fields), for example, by entering thecharacters of the other e-mail addresses into the desired addresseefield or by selecting the other e-mail addresses from contact list oraddress book. It will also be appreciated that the user may manuallydelete any of the e-mail addresses provided in the addressee field(s).

FIG. 2C illustrates response GUI 200 with secondary dropdown menu 212activated. It will be appreciated that the selection depicted in FIG. 2Bis maintained in FIG. 2C for illustrative purposes. That is, primaryaddressee field 201 remains populated with the e-mail addresses havingthe second domain name 222 (e.g., company.com). Also, in thisembodiment, primary dropdown menu 211 has changed to a post-activateddropdown menu 211″, which may list the selected domain names fromactivated primary dropdown menu 211′. In this illustration, thepost-activated dropdown menu 211″ indicates that the second domain name222 (company.com) has been selected. In other embodiments, the dropdownmenus may appear identical before and after a selection has been made.That is, in some embodiments, the activated dropdown menu returns to theappearance of the “pre-activated” dropdown menu and does not transitionto a post-activated dropdown menu.

With continuing reference to FIG. 2C, activated secondary dropdown menu212′ may list the different domain names among the recipients and senderof the received e-mail, e.g., a first domain name 221 (client.com), asecond domain name 222 (company.com), and a third domain name 223(partner.com). In other embodiments, one or more of the domain names maybe grayed out or removed from the dropdown menu depending on whetherthose domain names have been previously selected from another dropdownmenu. For example, in one embodiment following the selection depicted inFIG. 2B (where the second domain name 222 has been selected from theactivated primary dropdown menu 211′) the listing of domain names inactivated secondary dropdown menu 212′ may have the second domain name222 grayed out or omitted. Preventing selection of a previously selecteddomain (from a separate dropdown menu) may prevent duplication of e-mailmessages sent to the same recipient(s), e.g., as a primary addresseerecipient and a secondary addressee recipient, which may avoidunnecessary storage of duplicative e-mail messages (and associated dataor attached files).

Referring back to FIG. 2C, in this illustration, the first domain name221 and third domain name 223 are selected, and in response, thesecondary addressee field 202 is populated with all of the e-mailaddresses among the recipients and sender having a domain namecorresponding to the first domain name 221 (e.g., client.com) and thethird domain name 223 (e.g., partner.com). It will be appreciated thatprocedures similar to those described above may be used to populate theremaining addressee fields, e.g., the tertiary addressee field 203.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 300 for managingan e-mail response, according to an embodiment. At 301, a first e-mailmessage from a sender is received, e.g., by an e-mail server or accessedby an e-mail application on a user's device. The first e-mail messagemay be sent to a plurality of e-mail addresses. Each e-mail addressincludes a domain name and, among the plurality of e-mail addresses, twoor more e-mail addresses have different domain names.

At 302, a GUI associated with an e-mail response (responsive to thefirst e-mail message) is initiated, for example, by an e-mailapplication on a user's device. In one embodiment, a GUI associated withthe received e-mail message may include an option to initiate the GUIassociated with the e-mail response, for example, via a reply button orthe like. The GUI associated with the e-mail response may include one ormore addressee fields, e.g., a primary addressee field, a secondaryaddressee field, a tertiary addressee field, and so on. In oneembodiment, the primary addressee field is a “To” field, the secondaryaddressee field is a “Cc” field, and the tertiary addressee field is a“Bcc” field. The GUI associated with the e-mail response may alsoinclude a subject field and text body field.

At 303, a list of the different domain names associated with theplurality of e-mail addresses and the sender (i.e., an e-mail addressassociated with the sender) is provided. In one embodiment, the list ofthe different domain names is provided as a dropdown menu, e.g., that ispart of the GUI associated with the e-mail response. It is contemplatedthat the list of different domain names may be provided as any known orcontemplated type of user interface mode that is part of the GUIassociated with the e-mail response. In one embodiment, the list ofdifferent domain names is provided as a user interface including one ormore checkboxes.

At 304, based on a selection, e.g., by the user, of one or more of thedifferent domain names, a distribution list is generated. Thedistribution list comprises one or more e-mail addresses limited toe-mail addresses having a selected domain name. The term “a selecteddomain name” may include multiple selected domain names. For example,referring back to FIG. 2C, the first domain name 221 (company.com) andthe third domain name 223 (partner.com) may be selected (e.g., topopulate the secondary addressee field 202) and as such, in thisexample, each of the first domain name 221 and the third domain name 223may be considered a selected domain name.

At 305, the distribution list is provided in an addressee fieldassociated with the e-mail response in the GUI associated with thee-mail response. For example, a list of different domain names may beassociated with a primary addressee field. Upon a selection of one ormore different domain names, the primary addressee field becomespopulated with all of the e-mail addresses among the plurality of e-mailaddresses from the first e-mail and the first e-mail sender's e-mailaddress, having a selected domain name. In one embodiment, the addresseefield is selected among the group consisting of a primary addresseefield, a secondary addressee field, and a tertiary addressee field.

In one embodiment, the GUI associated with the e-mail response mayinclude a plurality of addressee fields and a plurality of dropdownmenus respectively associated with each of the addressee fields. Thatis, for each addressee field, the GUI includes a respective dropdownmenu listing the different domain names. Upon a selection of one or moredifferent domain names, a distribution list (including e-mail addresseshaving a selected domain name) is provided in one of the addresseefields from the plurality of addressee fields associated with a dropdownmenu from which the selection of one or more of the different domainnames is made.

In one embodiment, the GUI may include a subject field and the methodmay include appending text to the subject field based on the selecteddomain name. For example and referring back to FIG. 2B, an e-mailresponse (from a recipient with an e-mail address having the seconddomain name 222 (company.com)) may be addressed to only internal e-mailaddresses, e.g., e-mail addresses having the second domain name 222(company.com). Based on the selection of only the internal e-mailaddresses as recipients, the subject listed in the subject field 205 maybe appended with pertinent text, such as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “INTERNAL”.

FIG. 4A illustrates another exemplary GUI associated with a receivede-mail message (other reception GUI 400), according to an embodiment.Similar to reception GUI 100 (depicted in FIG. 1), other reception GUI400 may include details about the received e-mail message (such assender and recipient information, etc.) and may also include a commandbar 450, which may include one or more icons associated with a commandfunction. For example, the command bar 450 may include a reply button451, which may be associated with replying to the received e-mailmessage, a forwarding button 452, which may be associated withforwarding the received e-mail message, and a delete button 453, whichmay be associated with deleting the received e-mail message. It will beappreciated that any or all of the command icons/buttons may be providedwith or without the command bar 450. In one embodiment, one or more ofthe command icons/buttons functions as a dropdown menu listing asub-list of command functions. In one embodiment, the reply button 451functions as a dropdown menu.

FIG. 4B illustrates other reception GUI 400 with reply button 451 as anactivated dropdown menu. In this illustration, activated reply button451′ lists different types of reply functions that may be initiated,e.g., reply to sender 451A, reply to all 451B, reply to domain(s) 451C.Upon selection of a type of reply function, the e-mail application mayinitiate a GUI associated with the selected type of reply function. Inone embodiment, the reply to domain(s) 451C function may initiateresponse GUI 200 (depicted in FIGS. 2A-2C).

In one embodiment, the GUI associated with the e-mail response isinitiated based on a selection in a GUI associated with reception of thefirst e-mail.

In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a second e-mail sent toa further plurality of e-mail addresses and the second e-mail issubsequent to the first e-mail in an e-mail chain, and wherein thefurther plurality of e-mail addresses includes one or more additionale-mail addresses, and the distribution list includes one or more of theadditional e-mail addresses having the selected domain name. Forexample, the method considers the scenario when one or more additionale-mail addresses are added to the e-mail chain. Those additional e-mailaddresses may be accounted for when a domain name is selected to preparea distribution list. In other words, new addresses may be automaticallyincluded in the distribution list, as long as those new addresses have aselected domain.

In one embodiment, the further plurality of e-mail addresses (in thesecond e-mail) includes one or more additional different domain names,the list of different domain names associated with the plurality ofe-mail addresses includes the one or more additional different domainnames, and the selected domain name is selected among the one or moredifferent domain names and the one or more additional different domainnames. For example, the method considers the scenario when theadditional e-mail addresses added to the e-mail chain have new domainnames. Those new (i.e., additional different) domain names may beaccounted for when the list of different domain names is provided.

In one embodiment, the first e-mail is a subsequent e-mail in an e-mailchain comprising one or more previous e-mails. The one or more previouse-mails include one or more previously removed e-mail addresses, and thedistribution list includes one or more of the previously removed e-mailaddresses having the selected domain. For example, all of the e-mailaddresses in an e-mail chain (including those that may have been deletedfrom the e-mail chain) may be considered when generating thedistribution list.

In one embodiment, the one or more previously removed e-mail addresses(from the one or more previous e-mails in the e-mail chain) each has adomain that is different from the different domain names associated withthe plurality of e-mail addresses (from the first e-mail), and the listof the different domain names associated with the plurality of e-mailaddresses includes one or more earlier domains. For example, all of thee-mail addresses in an e-mail chain may be considered when providing thelist of the different domain names.

In another embodiment, only the e-mail addresses in the last e-mailmessage in the e-mail chain are considered when providing the list ofdifferent domain names and when generating the distribution list.

In another aspect, the method includes receiving a first e-mail from asender sent to a plurality of e-mail addresses, with each e-mail addresshaving a domain name, and two or more of the e-mail addresses havedifferent domain names, providing a list of the different domain namesassociated with the plurality of e-mail addresses and an e-mail addressassociated with the sender, and generating, based on a selection of oneor more of the different domain names, a distribution list, with thedistribution list comprising one or more e-mail addresses limited toe-mail addresses having a selected domain name.

The methods, computer program products, and systems disclosed herein maybe useful in a scenario involving e-mail messages to (or e-mail chainsincluding) recipients from multiple companies/entities. For example, anemployee of a client may send an e-mail inquiry to employees at a vendorcompany, as well as other employees at the client and employees at apartner company. Recipient at the vendor company may wish to correspondwith only employees of the vendor company (e.g., for an internaldiscussion). Instead of manually removing unintended recipients, themethods disclosed herein may allow the recipient at the vendor companyto quickly and efficiently sort and select the intended e-mail addressesby their associated domain names.

FIG. 5 depicts a schematic illustrating an example of a computing node.Computing node 10 is only one example of a suitable computing node andis not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of embodiments of the invention described herein.Regardless, computing node 10 is capable of being implemented and/orperforming any of the functionality set forth hereinabove.

In computing node 10 there is a computer system/server 12, which isoperational with numerous other general purpose or special purposecomputing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-knowncomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may besuitable for use with computer system/server 12 include, but are notlimited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thinclients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframecomputer systems, and distributed computing environments that includeany of the above systems or devices, and the like.

Computer system/server 12 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer system. Generally, program modules may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. Computer system/server 12 may be practiced in distributedcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

As shown in FIG. 5, computer system/server 12 in computing node 10 isshown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The componentsof computer system/server 12 may include, but are not limited to, one ormore processors or processing units 16, a system memory 28, and a bus 18that couples various system components including system memory 28 toprocessor 16.

Bus 18 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures,including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, anaccelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of avariety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation,such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus,Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, VideoElectronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and PeripheralComponent Interconnects (PCI) bus.

Computer system/server 12 typically includes a variety of computersystem readable media. Such media may be any available media that isaccessible by computer system/server 12, and it includes both volatileand non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

System memory 28 can include computer system readable media in the formof volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 30 and/or cachememory 32. Computer system/server 12 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 34 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to bus 18 by one or more datamedia interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,memory 28 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g.,at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out thefunctions of embodiments of the invention.

Program/utility 40, having a set (at least one) of program modules 42,may be stored in memory 28 by way of example, and not limitation, aswell as an operating system, one or more application programs, otherprogram modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one ormore application programs, other program modules, and program data orsome combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules 42 generally carry out the functions and/ormethodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein.

Computer system/server 12 may also communicate with one or more externaldevices 14 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 24, etc.;one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computersystem/server 12; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.)that enable computer system/server 12 to communicate with one or moreother computing devices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output(I/O) interfaces 22. Still yet, computer system/server 12 cancommunicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet) via network adapter 20. As depicted, network adapter 20communicates with the other components of computer system/server 12 viabus 18. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardwareand/or software components could be used in conjunction with computersystem/server 12. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode,device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays,RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

Detailed embodiments of the claimed structures and methods are disclosedherein; however, it can be understood that the disclosed embodiments aremerely illustrative of the claimed structures and methods that may beembodied in various forms. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theexemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplaryembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete and will fully convey the scope of this invention to thoseskilled in the art. In the description, details of well-known featuresand techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring thepresented embodiments.

References in the specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”,“an example embodiment”, etc., indicate that the embodiment describedmay include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, butevery embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature,structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarilyreferring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature,structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anembodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of oneskilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristicin connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitlydescribed.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles ofthe embodiment, the practical application or technical improvement overtechnologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinaryskill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer program product for managing an e-mailresponse, comprising a non-transitory tangible storage device havingprogram code embodied therewith, the program code executable by aprocessor of a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:receiving, by the processor, a first e-mail from a sender sent to aplurality of e-mail addresses, wherein each e-mail address from theplurality of e-mail addresses includes a domain name, and wherein two ormore of the e-mail addresses from the plurality of e-mail addresses havedifferent domain names; initiating, by the processor, a graphical userinterface (GUI) associated with the e-mail response, wherein the GUIincludes a subject field, a plurality of addressee fields and aplurality of dropdown menus respectively associated with each addresseefield from the plurality of addressee fields; providing, by theprocessor, in each dropdown menu from the plurality of dropdown menus, alist of the different domain names associated with the plurality ofe-mail addresses and an e-mail address associated with the sender;generating, by the processor, based on a selection of one or more of thedifferent domain names, a distribution list, wherein the distributionlist comprises one or more e-mail addresses limited to e-mail addresseshaving a selected domain name; providing, by the processor, thedistribution list in one of the addressee fields from the plurality ofaddressee fields associated with a dropdown menu from which theselection of one or more of the different domain names is made; andappending, by the processor, text to the subject field based on theselected domain name, wherein the text identifies an internaldiscussion, and wherein the e-mail response is from a recipient havingan e-mail address with the selected domain name.